Political parties on the far right are
today enjoying a surge of support and access to government power that
they have not experienced since their heyday in the 1930s.

This phenomenon is particularly
striking in Europe, where massive migration, sluggish economic
growth, and terrorism have stirred up zealous nationalism and
Islamophobia. In France, the National Front―founded in 1972 by
former Nazi collaborators and other right-wingers employing
anti-Semitic and racist appeals―has tried to soften its image
somewhat under the recent leadership of Marine Le Pen. Nevertheless,
Le Pen’s current campaign for the French presidency, in which she
is one of two leading candidates, includes speeches delivered against
a screen filled with immigrants committing crimes, jihadists plotting
savage attacks, and European Union (EU) bureaucrats destroying French
jobs, while she assails multiculturalism and promises to “restore
order.” In Germany,
the Alternative for Germany party, established three years ago, won
up to 25 percent of the vote in state elections in March 2016. Led
by Frauke Petry, the party calls for sealing the EU’s borders (by
shooting migrants, if necessary), forcing the migrants who remain to
adopt traditional German culture, and thoroughly rejecting Islam,
including a ban on constructing mosques. According to the party
platform, “Islam does not belong in Germany.”

Elsewhere in Europe, the story is much
the same. In Britain, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP),
led until recently by Nigel Farage, arose from obscurity to become
the nation’s third largest party. Focused on drastically reducing
immigration and championing nationalism (including pulling Britain
out of the EU), UKIP absorbed the constituency of neo-fascist groups
and led the struggle for Brexit, which it won. In the Netherlands, a
hotly-contested parliamentary election in March 2017 saw the far
right Party
for Freedom emerge as the nation’s second largest political
party. Calling for recording
the ethnicity of all Dutch citizens and closing all Islamic
schools, the party is headed by Geert Wilders, who has been tried
twice in that country for inciting hatred and discrimination against
Muslims. In Italy, the Northern League (so-named
because it originally pledged to liberate industrious Italian workers
in the north from subsidizing lazy Italians in the south), demands
drastic curbs on immigration and removal of Italy from the Eurozone.
Its leader, Matteo Salvini, contends that Islam is “incompatible”
with Western society.

Other European parties of the far right
include Hungary’s Jobbik
(the country’s third-largest party, which is vehemently hostile to
immigration, the EU, and homosexuality), the Sweden
Democrats (now vying for second place among Sweden’s parties,
with roots in the white supremacist movement and a platform of
heavily restricting immigration and opposing the EU), Austria’s
Freedom
Party (which, founded decades ago by Nazis, nearly won two recent
2016 presidential elections, vigorously opposes immigration, and
proclaims “yes to families rather than gender madness”), and the
People’s
Party-Our Slovakia (which supports leaving the EU and the
Eurozone and whose leader has argued that “even one immigrant is
one too many”).

Only one of these rising parties is
usually referred to as fascist: Greece’s Golden
Dawn. Exploiting Greece’s economic crisis and, especially,
hatred of refugees and other migrants, Golden Dawn has used virulent
nationalism and the supposed racial superiority of Greeks to emerge
as Greece’s third-largest party. Golden Dawn spokesman, Elias
Kasidiaris, is known for sporting a swastika on his shoulder and
for reading passages from the anti-Semitic hoax, the “Protocols of
the Elders of Zion,” to parliament. The party also employs a
swastika-like flag, as well as gangs of black-shirted thugs who beat
up immigrants. Party leaders, in fact, are on
trial for numerous crimes, including violent attacks upon
migrants.

Other far right parties in Europe,
although striving for greater respectability, also provide reminders
of 1920s- and 1930s-style fascism. Addressing a Northern League
rally, Italy’s bombastic Salvini
wore a black shirt while supporters waved neo-Nazi symbols and photos
of Benito Mussolini. In Hungary, Jobbik’s platform includes a call
to “stop hushing up such taboo issues” as “Zionist Israel’s
efforts to dominate Hungary and the world.” Meanwhile, the leaders
of Alternative
for Germany have revived words once employed by the Nazis. In
January 2017, one leader created a scandal when, addressing a party
youth gathering, he criticized Germany’s commemoration of Holocaust
crimes. That same month, speaking at a rightwing gathering in
Germany, Wilders
used the occasion to lament that “blonde” Europeans were becoming
“strangers in their own countries.”

Around the globe, the same trend is in
evidence. In the United States, of course, Donald
Trump won a startling victory in his run for the presidency,
employing attacks on Mexican migrants, Islamophobia, calls for law
and order, and promises to “make America great again.” The
Republican Party, moving rightward for years before Trump captured
the party nomination, quickly embraced this agenda.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin and his
United Russia party solidified their grip upon power, with Putin
telling parliament that social and religious conservatism
provided the only ways to keep Russia and the world from slipping
into “chaotic darkness.” Defending
“traditional values,” Putin attacked multiculturalism,
aligned himself with the reactionary Orthodox Church, promoted a
mystical, authoritarian nationalism, and fostered a government
crackdown on Russia’s Muslims.

In India, the BJP,
a Hindu nationalist party with a past that included violent attacks
upon the nation’s Muslim minority, grew substantially and captured
control of parliament. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP
opposes Muslim immigration, supports a program of social and economic
conservatism, and trumpets the slogan “India
First.”

Although these parties of the far right
have some differences, they also share some key characteristics.
Uninterested in challenging economic and social inequality, they
develop their popular appeal by flaunting extreme nationalism,
hostility to immigrants and religious minorities, a disdain for
multiculturalism, and, in most cases, a call to return to
“traditional values.” Not surprisingly, then, they usually get
on very well. Responding to Donald Trump’s election, a spokesman
for Golden Dawn praised it as a victory for “clean ethnic
states.” He added: “A great global change is starting, which
will continue with nationalists prevailing.” In January 2017,
three
of the top stars of the rising far right―Le Pen, Petry, and
Wilders―shared the platform at a rightwing conference in Germany,
at which they promised a new day for Europe.

Europe’s far right parties have been
particularly enthusiastic
about Putin. Unlike most other European political groupings,
they applauded his war against Georgia and military meddling in
Ukraine. When Putin invited representatives of their parties to
observe the referendum to have Russia annex Crimea, they dutifully
attended the event, after which France’s National Front, Britain’s
UKIP, Austria’s Freedom Party, and Italy’s Northern League
endorsed its legitimacy. Hailing Russia’s president as a true
patriot, Le Pen lauded him as a defender of “the Christian heritage
of European civilization.” Farage, asked which world leader he
most admired, responded without hesitation: Putin! The leader of
Austria’s Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian
Strache, praised Putin as a “pure democrat.” Indeed,
Europe’s far right parties blame the EU and NATO for the crisis in
the Ukraine, support lifting EU sanctions on Russia, and back
Russia’s military intervention in Syria. In the European
parliament, their representatives vote in favor of Russian interests
nearly all the time.

In turn, Russia’s president has
assisted
these parties in their struggle for power. In 2014, the National
Front received an 11 million euro loan from a Russian bank to help
finance its successful municipal election campaign. During the
current French presidential campaign, the National Front applied for
a substantially larger Russian bank loan, Russian media outlets are
working hard for Le Pen; Putin received
her in Moscow with the kind of buildup usually accorded a head of
state. In Germany,
Russian media and social networks played up a false story of an
alleged gang rape of a 13-year old girl by migrants, prompting tens
of thousands of Germans to take to the streets in protest and
startling electoral gains by Alternative for Germany. That party has
denied allegations that Russia is providing it with funding, but not
the possibility that Russia is behind the mysterious appearance of
millions of copies of its campaign newspaper and thousands of its
election signs. Meanwhile, the youth group of Alternative for
Germany has forged an alliance with Putin’s United Russia party.

The story is much the same in other
nations. In Austria, the Freedom Party appears to be receiving
Russian financial assistance through a thinly veiled intermediary, a
prominent Russian oligarch. Russian cooperation with Austria’s far
right became official in December 2016, when the United Russia party
signed a
cooperation agreement with the Freedom Party. In Britain, the
Russian government, despite formal statements of neutrality, clearly
sided
with UKIP’s Brexit campaign. Enamored of Farage, it provided
him with frequent guest appearances on Russia Today and, following
passage of the Brexit referendum, even offered him his own show on
that state-funded network. In the Netherlands, Russia’s
disinformation and propaganda arms have worked to assist Wilders and
his Party for Freedom by trumpeting false news stories.

No one, however, has inspired the
rising far right more than Donald Trump. As early as March 2016,
Salvini
was enthusiastic about the U.S. business magnate, and in late April
he traveled to Pennsylvania to participate in a Trump rally. Here he
held a “Trump: Make America Great Again” sign and afterward had a
20-minute meeting with the Republican presidential front-runner that
consummated their alliance. Farage
took part in Trump’s presidential campaign that August in
Mississippi, where he shared the rally platform with him and lauded
his fellow right-winger before the cheering crowd. In October 2016,
Golden
Dawn endorsed Trump on the floor of the Greek parliament, hailing
the “patriotic wind” sweeping through Europe and North America.
Furthermore, if U.S. intelligence agencies are correct, Vladimir
Putin set Russian
covert operations in motion to help secure Trump’s political
triumph.

Naturally, Trump’s election victory
sent a surge of euphoria through the far right. From France, Le
Pen lauded it as “a sign of hope,” showing “that people are
taking their future back.” Farage,
addressing a victory party near the White House, declared: “Brexit
was great, but Trump becoming the president of the USA is Brexit
plus, plus, plus.” Farage, in fact, was the first British
politician to meet with Trump after the US election; he posed
for photographs with the president-elect in the gold-plated
elevator of Trump Tower. Exhilarated by Trump’s election, the
leaders of Alternative for Germany immediately dispatched a
congratulatory
telegram to him. At a celebration
in Munich, a party leader told the cheering crowd that what Trump
had done in the United States, their party would do in Germany.
“America First is coming to Deutschland,” he boomed, with the
crowd erupting in thunderous applause.

As might be expected, Trump’s
executive orders banning refugees and other immigrants from
predominantly Muslim nations sent parties of the far right into
ecstasy. In Greece,
thousands of Golden Dawn supporters surged into the streets, carrying
torches and waving their Nazi-like flags. “Well done,” President
Trump, exulted Wilders;
“it’s the only way to stay safe and free.” In a National Front
rally brimming with nationalist fervor, Le
Pen declared that Americans had “kept faith with their national
interest,” while National Front supporters shouted joyously: “This
is our country!” Trump’s action was also
lauded by the Northern League, Alternative for Germany, and the
whole panoply of ultra-right parties. Although government officials
of most nations condemned Trump’s immigrant ban, India’s
prime minister conspicuously refrained from any criticism, while
India’s foreign
secretary said that the world should not “demonize” Trump.

Viewing Trump as a kindred spirit, as
well as the leader of the world’s most powerful nation, the parties
of the far right are keen on cementing an alliance with him. Upon
Trump’s election, Alternative
for Germany informed him that it was a “natural ally” at his
side. Farage
was so eager to court Trump that he met with him three times during
the first weeks of Trump’s presidency. Salvini
told the rightwing Breitbart News that his party shared many of the
policies of the new administration and was a logical ally. “On
many issues,” the Italian leader said, “we see eye-to-eye with
President Trump and we look forward to partnering with his
administration.” Arguing that “a direct channel with the new
American president is crucial,” Salvini promised to quickly
establish “direct, serious, non-mediated contact” with the Trump
administration.

But what is the attitude of Trump and
his circle toward these leaders of the far right? Apparently, it is
quite favorable. When Trump, during his campaign for the presidency,
first spoke with Salvini, he told
him: “Matteo, I hope you become prime minister of Italy soon.”
Moreover, Trump, as a fan of Farage and keen supporter of Brexit,
has not only met with Farage on numerous occasions, but has publicly
declared that the rightwing leader would make a good British
ambassador to the United States. Le
Pen, like her rightwing allies, made a much-publicized,
post-election victory visit to Trump Tower, although Trump’s
transition team denied that the incoming president met with her.

Trump has also displayed a remarkable
affection for rightwing politicians in power. Political observers
have been struck by Trump’s consistent
admiration for Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has praised
for his “strong control” over Russia. “He’s been a leader,”
said Trump, “far more than our president has been.” So
intertwined have Trump and his associates been with Russian
officialdom that the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation
of collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian
government during the U.S. presidential election campaign.

Similarly, within three days of taking
office, Trump conversed on the telephone with India’s
Prime Minister Modi, one of the few world leaders with whom he
had spoken since his inauguration. According to a White House
statement, Trump said that he considered India a “true friend and
partner in addressing challenges around the world,” and was looking
forward to welcoming Modi to the United States later in the year. In
turn, Modi said that he had had a “warm conversation” with Trump,
and that the pair had “agreed to work closely in the coming days.”

Some of Trump’s aides have been even
more outspoken in praising parties and leaders of the far right. For
years, Steve
Bannon―who managed the final portion of Trump’s election
campaign and who is now the president’s top political
strategist―ran Breitbart, a far right news service that he
described as “the platform for the alt-right.” Under his
leadership, Breitbart worked assiduously to provide favorable
publicity for UKIP, Alternative for Germany, the Party for Freedom,
and other right-wing parties. Farage
recalled that “when Bannon opened up the Breitbart office in
London and began to give the arguments that I was making . . . a
very, very big audience,” this turned the tide for Brexit.
Consequently, Farage publicly offered “a personal thank you and
tribute to Steve Bannon for having the foresightedness of doing that
with Breitbart,” for which he was “extremely grateful.”

And the project continues. In November
2016, after Breitbart announced plans to expand to Berlin and Paris,
Reuters―citing
sources “close to Bannon”―reported that “the aim is to help
elect right-wing politicians in the two countries.”

Bannon’s alliance with the far right
is not merely a marriage of convenience, but is based on a
deep-seated
nationalist ideology and love of power that he shares with it.
“I think strong countries and strong nationalist movements in
countries make strong neighbors,” Bannon told an audience of
conservative religious activists in 2014. These were “the building
blocks that built Western Europe and the United States, and I think
it’s what can see us forward.”

Sometimes, the Trump administration’s
intense nationalism seems built on a very unsavory past. Bannon, who
wrote Trump’s “America First” inaugural address, is an
admirer of a nationalist right-winger, Charles Maurras, a vicious
anti-Semite and supporter of France’s World War II Nazi-dominated
regime who, after the war, was sentenced to life imprisonment as a
collaborator. Sebastian
Gorka, a Hungarian immigrant who worked for Bannon at Breitbart
and, like Bannon, is now a White House advisor, was recently named by
officers of a quasi-Nazi Hungarian nationalist group as a sworn
member of their organization. Although Gorka denied this allegation,
he did wear its medal to a Trump inaugural ball and did add a “v”
middle initial to his name, a practice that comports with the group’s
traditions.

Other Republican officeholders have
also displayed an affinity with Europe’s far right politics. In
March 2017, U.S. Representative Steve
King publicly praised Geert Wilders, who, in his latest
anti-immigrant tirade, referred to Moroccans as “scum.” “Wilders
understands that culture and demographics are our destiny,” King
declared, with admiration. “We can’t restore our civilization
with somebody else’s babies.” In September 2016, he posted
online a photo of Wilders and himself, warning of “cultural suicide
by demographic transformation.”

Although numerous public officials
condemned King’s latest racist broadside, White House press
secretary Sean Spicer refused to comment on it. Trump was also
silent on King’s remarks. But back
in 2014 when Trump campaigned for the Iowa congressman’s
election, he called King a “special guy, a smart person, with
really the right views on almost everything.” With their
ideologies so in sync, said Trump, “we don’t have to compare
notes.”

In this fashion, then, political forces
around the world have been drawing together in recent years into a
far right international. Although its future remains uncertain,
especially if Putin and Trump come to a parting of the ways, it
certainly has plenty of political momentum at present. “Long live
Trump, long live Putin, long live Le Pen, and long live the League,”
exulted the Northern League’s Salvini
in early 2017. “Finally, we have an international alliance.”